As I find myself in Connecticut (one of the states besides Ohio well known for its Melon Heads), I share a quick side trip into Elfland (a possibly Fortean zone of reality) Some of these stories devolve into the human tendency to explain unknown reports (even cryptozoological ones) of cryptids in the woods as disabled humans or partial humans. I refer to this as Occam’s razor gone mad!

Don’t forget that the Melon Heads (or melonheads) are a prime example of this. No telling what the origins of these reports, but the rationalization for them is sometimes stranger that the unexplained nature of the initial reports.

Several variations of the Melon Head myths can be found Fairfield County, Connecticut. Most instances can be found in Trumbull, Shelton, Stratford and Monroe, but other instances can be found in Seymour, Easton, Weston, Oxford, Milford, and Southbury. There are two primary Connecticut variations.

According to the first variation of the myth, Fairfield County was the location of an asylum for the criminally insane that burned down in the fall of 1960, resulting in the death of all of the staff and most of the patients with 10-20 inmates unaccounted for, supposedly having survived and escaped to the woods. The legend states that the Melon Heads’ appearance is the result of them having resorted to cannibalism in order to survive the harsh winters of the region, and due to inbreeding, which in turn caused them to develop hydrocephalus. According to the second variation, the Melon Heads are descendants of a Colonial era family from Shelton-Trumbull who were banished after accusations of witchcraft were made against them causing them to retreat to the woods. As with the first legend, this variation attributes the appearance of the Melon Heads to inbreeding. Melon Heads allegedly prey upon humans who wander into their territory.

“One can’t be of an enquiring and experimental nature, and still be very sensible.” – Charles Fort, Wild Talents (1932).

About Loren ColemanLoren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.